A piece of paradise
by Berserk1
Summary: Aftermath of Third Impact, how two souls manage to find peace in a wasteland. Oneshot.


As I've delved much into my other fics for a while, I wondered if I could write an Eva one-shot. Being my favorite anime of all time, I had to try. So...here we go. 

Disclaimer: I don't own, yadda yadda blah blah blah --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His hands wrapped around her throat out of sheer impulse. He couldn't understand why when he gazed at her gaunt face he immedietly started to choke her. All of his hate, his rage and his sadness just set him loose. His grip tightend to the point of breaking her neck but she didn't resist at all, instead she raised her arm and gently caressed his cheak. Finally he came to his senses and let go. She coughed for a moment before muttering something that would be inscribed in his memories many years to come.

"How Disgusting."

Getting off of her and curling up into a ball, he just stared at the scene ahead of him, eyes fixated on the sea of blood. So many thoughts passed through his head, so many voices echoed in the back of his mind, voices he would never hear again. Everyone was gone, Misato, Toji, Kensuke, he would even miss Hikari even though he didn't know her too well, but they were all special too him. They were what drove him to pilot the Eva, the very thing used in the end to destroy them all. Time seemed to drag on for what seemed like an eternity before he heard Asuka shift a bit. Glancing back he now saw that her left eye and right arm are bandaged. A lump formed in his throat as he fought the urge to turn away and seclude himself. Finally swallowing, he makes eye contact with her.

"How-how did you get hurt like this?" All that came out as what he could tell as a response was a forced scoff. Seeing that she was back to being the difficult person to talk to, he turned away to stare at the shore again. Then he heard something he rarely ever heard, the voice of the second child yet it held no bite to it.

"From fighting those replicant evas. I was sent out to hold them off. I destroyed all nine of them then they just got back up. My power ran out and...HEY, why am I telling you this?" He guessed she could only be nice for so long at a time. She sat up then doubled over as she remembered that her right arm was most likely broken in several places.

"You shouldn't move like that after such a big fight, you could do more harm than good."

"So says the coward. Some great Eva pilot you turned out to be, couldn't even stop the world from being blown up and now look, last two humans alive and don't even think of going biblical and say 'We have to do it to restore the human race' because I'd rather break my other arm than, than do that!" Yup, same old Asuka. A small chuckle escaped Shinji after her rant ended. "Just what's so funny?"

"It's, it's nothing. Just that after all that has gone on, the mental breakdowns, the world's gone to hell, it's the fact that of all the things to think of, sex enters your mind. I just can't help but laugh at the fact that you're the same person I met all those months ago on that carrier." He was laughing. For some unknown reason to himself, he managed to laugh at the 'red-menace' as Toji liked to put it. Now he started to cry from holding back the laughter, all those comments Kensuke and Toji made about her were too much to bear. Seeing as he was laughing at her, Asuka carefully managed to get up using her good arm and proceeded to leave the area while muttering hateful things in german. Turning back and seeing this he decided to go after her. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Away from you, that's the first thing I intend to do. Maybe then I'll find some clothes and change out of this plugsuit." Shinji stopped chasing after her when he heard she didn't want to be near him. Deciding to leave her be, he turned back and curled up to get warmer.

"Seems to be alot colder now"  
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It has been several days since the end of Third Impact. The search for survivors hasn't yielded any results, partly to the fact that the only known two can't seem to get along at all. Shinji has spent the past days just sulking, just staring at the horizon, wondering when anyone who wants to return will do so all the while Asuka just stares at him. Finally seeing that nothing was being done, she decides to make the first move. Walking over, she sucks up whatever pride she has left and sits down next to him.

"So, no one else came back?" Shinji didn't even jump when he heard her sit next to him, he just sat there, motionless. Seeing no response, she puts her good hand on his shoulder hoping whatever charm skills she had could break that shell of his. "It's pretty huh, the horizon I mean. If you look at it close enough, it's like a kind of eternal moonlit ocean front you only see on vacation manuals, the whole 'Welcome to paradise' cliche." Shinji justs nods, not even making an effort to talk. "Well, I can see that the great third child is back to his normal, mopy self. Any more room in that pity-party your holding, mr. guest of honor?" No response. Fed up, she grows more angry with each passing second. Finally, she snaps and fully strikes him across the face with her right hand, screaming in pain after remembering that it was broken. "Now look what you did." The next words out Shinji's mouth would change Asuka's perspective of him, without her even knowing it.

"It was your own damn fault." No apologies, no excuses. Not the usual barrage of wimpiness that came out of his mouth. Stunned, Asuka just looks to her hand, gently caressing it like an injured animal licking it's wounds.

"I'm sorry. It's just, when you don't respond, I take it that you don't want to talk with me and that just pisses me off. Don't you know that it's really rude to ignore a woman when she talks?" Shinji nods his head.

"Is it rude when someone calls you an idiot, always puts you down when you just barely feel good about yourself?" Asuka realized what he was talking about. All those time she shot him down when he made an accomplishment, something of worth when she, herself was unable to do so. "I want to know, why did you always say those things to me? Why treat me so horribly one moment and then act almost nice the next?"

"It's because..."

"Well?"

"It's because, because you're better than me, that's why! You prove time and again that with no training whatsoever, you can do things I couldn't. Do you know what's it's like to train for something your whole life and suddenly some nobody does it better without even trying? Do you?" Shinji shook his head, finally seeing what was going on in that fortress of emotions Asuka had.

"I'm sorry if that's how you see it but to be honest, I originally didn't want to be a pilot. I was one day out of nowhere summoned by father to pilot the Eva and one thing led to another and here we are. I never planned any of this." He could hear Asuka lightly laughing.

"I don't think anyone prepared for this. This whole 'Let's destroy mankind' thing is like something out of a kids comic book. Who was stupid enough to actually go through with this?" Shinji joined her in what seemed their first laugh together. "So, why us?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, why just the two of us? Someone else had to be alive?" Shinji looked out at the sea again, deciding whether or not to tell Asuka the truth.

"It's because we wanted to be back. Plain and simple." Asuka was taken back by this answer. Shinji went on to explain how he could have lived in an alternate world where the two of them were child-hood friends, his parents were happy and there were no Evas or NERV or any dangerous crap but instead he wanted to live in reality and that's why he's here.

"Well, I can't really explain why I'm here, I never got to experience some alternate life. One minute I was torn apart by those things, the next my throat is being crushed by your scrawny hands. Out of the frying pan and into the oven if you ask me." Another chuckle at Asuka's crude but effective statement.

"So what do we do now?"

"Hell if I know." The two sat together, enjoying their first moment as friends rather than co-workers or classmates. Friends, the word kept popping in Shinji's head but it didn't feel right calling her a friend when he wanted more.

"Hey Asuka, remember when we kissed?" Asuka was shocked to the fact he rememberd what appeared to an innocent moment between the two.

"Wha-what about it?"

"Why did you want to kiss me?"

"I was bored and...wanted to know somethings. That's all, why was it awful?"

"No, just you seemed to overreact afterwards when it really wasn't that bad. I rather enjoyed it really." Shinji didn't know why he was saying this, it wasn't like him at all.

"If you want to know, I thought it was, well, ok. Fine I said it. Happy? Your not bad at kissing." Shinji smiled at the compliment.

"Anything else?" Asuka was really fighting whatever was wanting to come out.

"And I may have liked you and stole a kiss that way, back then off course." She saw that Shinji was grinning ear to ear. "Oh come on, you liked it too, so what does that say about me?"

"It's whatever you think." Seeing as they both established how they felt about one another, the two just stared off not saying anything.

"So they have to choose to come back huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much it." Asuka takes hold of Shinji's hand in her own, ignoring the pain.

"Well, it may be awhile before that happens. Let's just enjoy this peace together, our own piece of paradise because god knows, after all we went through at our age, we need it." She puts her head on his shoulder, happy that it was just the two of them after all.

"Yeah, our own piece of paradise"  
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Ok, that was my one-shot. I don't know if I'm good at them or not so let me know, I enjoy compliments. Read, review, I'll probably reply. You know the drill, peace!


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